Within the first ten pages of One-Handed Catch by M.J. Auch, eleven-year-old Norm’s life changes abruptly when his hand gets caught in the meat grinder in his father’s butcher shop. A week later, he is sent home from the hospital an amputee. In 1946, it wasn’t uncommon to see an amputee, but they were usually war veterans. Norm is a kid, and from his perspective, losing his hand isn’t about learning to light cigarettes with a hook prosthesis. It’s about playing baseball and riding his bike.